The
Sludgelord’s boggy swamp is home to a plethora of bands founded upon the desire
to retch riffs of the dirtiest kind upon our welcoming ears, but few can claim
a bottom end as punishing as Torpor’s. The Brighton wrecking crew celebrate
their third birthday next month, but the confidence which exudes from out of
‘From Nothing Comes Everything’ could trick you into believing they are three
times that age. Fronted by Nats Spada’s banshee screams, they pour
elements of sludge metal, hardcore and doom into their bubbling cauldron
throughout their multi-faceted sound, giving listeners plenty to find
invigorating. These are bleak dirges that satisfy our rumbling hunger for riffs
filthier than Ron Jeremy’s hard drive and Spada is their tyrannical Queen,
domineering the act from her towering throne.

Their
second release, ‘From Nothing Comes Everything’ takes the
blueprint drawn up on 2012’s ‘Bled Dry’ and expands upon the borders of their
sound, claiming new territory as their own and remaining completely and utterly
devastating in the process. Dissonant riffs snap at you from a post-metal haze
throughout, the first tremors of the near 11-minute epic 'From This Time' quite
simply taking your ears by siege. Yet, for all the devastation they cause, the
post-metal haze that capes the entire record stops it from becoming
overbearing, somehow managing to find a dwelling on the spectrum where
brutality and lucidity are of equal measure and effect.

For
the most part, Spada spews out low, grinding growls that bathe in cesspit
rhythms as slow as rush hour traffic, but occasionally she cuts to cleanly
delivered lines which most prominently show off their hardcore side. It’s that
extra dynamic which grabs you the most – the juxtaposition from wretched,
wallowing warbles to smooth but seething passages sticking out like a proudly
sore thumb.

‘Surrender
to Light’ packs a dismal, plodding riff with subtle changes oscillating around
the riffs domineering presence. Experimentation with the dynamics later on
proves this is a band refusing to rest on their laurels; they want to assault
your ears in as many different ways as possible. Compare where the band are
today with the band they introduced themselves as in 2012 and you will see with
your own eyes the steps forward this band has taken.

‘The
Wake’ is nightmarish, its atmosphere otherworldly. At just over two minutes the
mainly instrumental track stabs a blood stained blade into the gut of this
record, ‘As Waves Crush’ the blood that comes flooding out.

Drummer
Simon Mason’s cymbal centric playing, sounding like waves crashing in the
ocean. Conjuring an atmosphere which this album thrives on, invoking a virgin
layer of paint on the canvas, setting the mood for the others to follow with
menacing intent.

Admittedly
it can be difficult to differentiate the songs without astute attention being paid.
The songs kind of morph into each other which bares both positive and negative
results: the sense of cohesion here is immense, the record rapturous for it,
but at the same time there’s that craving for a little more to crawl out of the
mix and make itself known to you.

A
great record that captures this band’s progression, however it leaves you with
the feeling that there are still many more studious steps to be taken.

Band Submissions

To those bands who have recently issued their first demo or album via bandcamp and would like to be featured on our 666 Pack Review or considered for a full review or stream please contact Aaron via email including your EPK, band bio, album file or download code, including artwork.

To those bands issuing their sophomore record and so on and would like to be considered for a review or stream on the blog. Get in touch using the same address above

We will consider bands from any genre but exclusively stoner, sludge, doom, psych, post-metal, experimental, black-metal etc. (Whilst I would like to respond to every email, this is not always possible.) Thanks